I read a fascinating book on this subject once called The Man who Tasted Shapes. It was a very absorbing description of how a doctor accidentally got involved in the study of synesthesia, as well as of the frighteningly dismissive reactions he received from his colleagues. Excellent book.
Ok, ok. What does Matt McLauchlin look like?
I remember part of a lecture on this in a psych class in college. Apparently one person with synesthesia actually made a movie (iirc) with sounds and his matching perceptions. Most people found it interesting, but it really annoyed other people with synesthesia of sound to sight because they said he got it all wrong. It’d be really cool if synesthesia tend to lead to the same links, but it seems to just be semi-random personal links. It’s still kinda nifty though.
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Okay, heh.
fierra:
Despite the fact that your name doesn’t have any oranges or real reds in it or anything, it still looks like a combination of sultry and fierce. The F’s and R’s are both shades of maroon and purple, but they are not identical (the R’s are darker here). They aren’t as quiet as you might think; the effect from them in the context of this word is sorta like a stormy red-maroon-purple sky. The I is a normal yellow that pales a little bit because of the blue-white E sitting next to it. The A on the end is important in the word image but not much so in the color.
Wow, thanks, tiny cow.
Sultry & fierce! I feel like a fire-storm. Although the yellow & the blue-white make me feel like a super nova!
Fi.
tiny cow, do you always or at least consistently see the same name in the same colors and shapes? Does an alternate spelling of a name completely change your perception? Are your perceptions of colors and shapes unique to you or are they shared with others having your abilities?
I had no idea these abilities existed and I find this absolutely fascinating.
Finally: Please?
ZenBeam:
The “Zen” part of your name is sort of wide and heavy, a bit like a pyramid, but it looks…dignified? It’s got a pretty dark orange in the Z and a somewhat brighter orange N. The E is mostly white, here, not much blue to be seen. The “Beam” part is like yellow light radiating from open eyes or an open source; it looks pleased with itself. Interestingly enough, there isn’t any yellow in “Beam,” the B is a medium pink, the M a pale candy red (as I described it before), and the E a pale blue with a mostly white A (some minor red undertones).
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Thanks tiny cow. dignified, pleased with itself, I like that. 
Hey, this may be your chance to make millions. Set up a web site offering Synestetic Readings or Ask the Synesthete or something. Look how popular this was here. Imagine how well you might do with the psychic readings crowd.
For a more lyrical take on the subject, there’s a song called “Synaesthesia” by The Bobs.
Wow, that has to be one of the coolest things I have ever heard! I kind of wish I had it, it woudl make me happy.
do you ever get frustrated or wish that you didnt have it?
also, you should paint or write books. an autobiography! your condition could be an inspiration for making art, and you’d be able to try to express what you “see.”
or better yet, set up a booth entitled “Get your verbal Syntheastic charicature!”
think of the possibilities!
oh and just out of curiosity, what does my—oops, sorry, I wont ask 
I wonder if anyone has done any studdies about the creativity levels of synesthetes compared to non-synesthetes.
I wonder if this is what’s up with folks who see auras. It sounds very similar to what was described by a friend of mine in high school when she was trying to describe how she saw auras around people. She said something like “everyone has a color. When I see someone I say ‘oh, she’s purple with bluish radiating rays. She reminds me of thunder.’”
I always thought that it would be a very cool thing to be able to see. It’s sort of like the best free association excercises that I’ve ever heard of, bumped up a few notches.
…and, if you aren’t totally sick of it, could you tell me about your impressions of my name? I wish I had such a talent so that I could share back with you.
K.
Bumping for Tiny cow.
I was directed here from another web site, where some of the gang have been posting your “analysis” of their names. Could you do one more? Mine? Please?
I don’t know about studies, but many synesthetes ARE quite creative. A famous one was Vladimir Nabokov, the author of “Lolita.” I believe that Nikola Tesla was also synesthetic. Me, I tend to be more anesthetic these days…:rolleyes: 
I don’t know if this is related in anyway, but I sorta see sounds, music in particular. I can’t describe how I see it, but I pull up the mental picture just as clearly as pulling up any other memory. When I listen to the song “Nobody’s fault” by Aerosmith, I see the opening as different big blurry blobs of different colors slowly fading in and out… somewhat like the christmas lights that show different colors in sequence, fading from one to the next. It’s also quite dissappointing for me to see a band perform live, because it destroys my mental picture to see the actual origin of the sounds.
I once described to a friend how beautiful the colors in the beginning of that song were, and he looked at me like I was nuts.
I do see images for numbers, letters, and sounds… they’re just not something I can easily describe. E’s are definately yellow, o’s are black and white, y’s are white, a’s are definately a pale blue, but it’s hard for me to describe.
I see things in my mind very vividly, but not in a way I can possibly make clear to others.
Hi, Tiny Cow. Please do NOT tell us how you see my name. I don’t want to clutter up the board.
But I am fascinated by this phenomenon, and would like to understand it better. (Beyond the Discovery article, whose link you kindly posted.) Without getting into the semantics of words like “disorder” or “condition”, it is safe to say that this is natural and biological. Which makes me surprised to find that the linkages are not (for example) to the quantities three or four, but to the artificial numerals “3” and “4”.
Have you investigated these patterns? Do you get the same colors from a lower-case letter as an upper-case version of the same letter? Does the font style make a difference? Have you ever noticed a common pattern linking all the things you see as green, as opposed to the things you see as red?
Somehow, it seems to me that if the same letter has appeared in the same color to you for many years, then it is not an abitrary association, which in turn suggest that there must be a pattern somewhere.
Just wondering…
Hi Tiny Cow. I just stumbled upon this thread… and uh… you know… pretty please???
Eric
Oh great Tiny cow I bow to thy and offer thy a whole loaf of burnt toast. Please shine thy wisdom upon this great long post and tell me what thy sees in my name.
Many thanx BuRnt ToAsT AKA Tomcat